the gunpowder plot: history in an hour
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‘Remember, remember, the fifth of November’. The gunpowder plot is a famed tale of treachery that continues to fascinate and capture the imagination four hundred years on. The Gunpowder Plot in an Hour reveals the elaborate background to the infamous plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament and James I, the ultimate act of treason. This compelling and engaging account of one of the most famous historical events in English history follows the Catholic protagonists hatching their plan through to their inevitable, gruesome deaths. Learn who the Catholic traitors were, what drove them to such desperate measures, and how the plot was discovered. The Gunpowder Plot in an Hour gives a concise overview of this enduring event and is a must for all history lovers. This, by Sinead Fitzgibbon, is the Gunpowder Plot in an hour…TRANSCRIPT
The Gunpowder Plot: History In An Hour
Remember, remember, the fifth of November,
Gunpowder, Treason and Plot.
I see no reason why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
Like all good conspiracy stories, the tale of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 is one that
combines elements of mystery, intrigue, suspense and, of course, deception. It is the story
of a small band of disaffected Catholics who, unhappy with the constraints placed on
their religion by Elizabeth I and her successor, James I, decided to challenge the religious
and political status quo. They would do this by committing the ultimate act of terrorism –
the destruction of both king and Parliament. The plan was audacious and surprisingly
simple – and came very close to succeeding. There have been innumerable terrorist
conspiracies, both successful and otherwise, down through the ages, but the Gunpowder
Plot has succeeded in capturing our imagination unlike any other. Over 400 years has
passed since this daring scheme was discovered, and yet its legend continues
undiminished. Every year, bonfires are lit the length and breadth of Britain to mark the
Plot’s anniversary, a tradition which dates back to that fateful November night in 1605
when the Gunpowder Plot was uncovered at the eleventh hour.
This, in an hour, is the story of the Gunpowder Plot.
A Country Divided
England at the turn of the seventeenth century was a country rife with political tensions
and religious divisions, the roots of which can be traced back some seventy years to the
reign of Henry VIII. The actions of this one man would have profound repercussions for
his kingdom, condemning his people to decades of religious conflicts and persecution.
The discord which resulted from Henry’s exploits would in turn give rise to one of the
most audacious terrorist plots this country has ever seen – the Gunpowder Plot.
Henry VIII
During the early 1530s, Henry, in his desperation to marry Anne Boleyn, was frantically
looking for a way to divorce his wife of almost twenty-five years, Catherine of Aragon.
When numerous appeals to Rome for an annulment fell on deaf ears, Henry’s patience
began to wear thin. Powerless in the face of the Pope’s authority, Henry grew
increasingly resentful. Until this point, Henry had been a dutiful and pious Catholic.
Despite this, relations between the English monarch’s court and Rome were invariably
strained. Henry, accustomed to being in an authoritative position, often found it difficult
to bend to the will of the Papacy. Ever the opportunist, the King’s attentions soon turned
to the Protestant Reformation which at the time was sweeping the Continent.
Recognising in this movement a chance to circumvent the authority of Rome, Henry
began to endorse the Reformation’s ideals. Thus began a concerted campaign to wrest
power from the Papacy. Denouncing the Catholic Church as corrupt and out of
touch, Henry broke all ties with Rome in 1533.
In doing so, he proclaimed himself, and not the
Pope, to be the Supreme Head of the Church in
England; the King was now bound only by his
conscience in matters of religion and theology.
Conveniently, his conscience proved to be no
obstacle to his divorce from Catherine.
So began a marital merry-go-round which
would last for more than a decade. Proving himself to be a fickle husband and obsessed
with producing the necessary male heir, Henry would marry six times. These marriages
would end by a variety of means: divorce, death or execution. They would, however,
produce three children: Mary from his marriage to Catherine of Aragon; Elizabeth from
his union with Anne Boleyn; and the longed-for son, Edward, from his third marriage to
Jane Seymour. Henry’s offspring would each play a significant part in inflaming the
religious tensions which were first ignited by their father.
Edward VI and Mary I
When Henry died in 1547, his youngest child and only male heir, Edward, ascended to
the throne to become King Edward VI. He was only nine years old at the time of his
coronation. Brought up in the new faith, Edward, together with his Protestant guardians,
earnestly continued with Henry’s programme of reform. Under Edward’s reign, Henry’s
policy of dissolution of the monasteries was completed. This left the Church all but
bankrupt, with most of the wealth transferred to the King’s coffers. The reign of Edward
VI, however, was not destined to last long. A sickly child, the young king died in 1553 at
the age of fifteen. He left behind a country where the Church of England had become
quite firmly established. This, however, was all about to change with the ascendancy of
his half-sister Mary to the throne. During the turbulent years of her father’s religious
reforms, Mary, Henry’s eldest child, had managed to retain her Catholicism in the face of
severe opposition. In fact, it could be said that the harsh treatment of her mother,
Catherine of Aragon, at Henry’s hands had only served to harden Mary against the very
idea of Protestantism. Her unquestioning devotion to her mother’s religion was set in
stone. It is hardly surprising, then, that when Mary became queen, she quickly set about
accomplishing her long-held ambition of restoring England to the Catholic faith.
Unfortunately, in her zeal to undo all her father’s reforms, Mary revealed a hatred for
Protestantism that was all- consuming. She regarded all adherents to the new religion as
heretics, and displayed no compunction in burning at the stake those suspected of
harbouring Protestants or with Protestant leanings themselves. In all, 237 men and 52
women met a painful end during Mary’s reign. This willingness to kill in the name of
Catholicism gained her a reputation for mercilessness that would rival her father’s.
History would not judge Mary’s actions in promoting the old faith kindly – she would be
remembered for centuries to come as ‘Bloody Mary’.
Elizabeth I
After Mary’s death in 1558, the last of the Tudor children came to the throne. Like
Edward before her, Elizabeth’s sympathies lay with the Protestant cause, and so her
coronation saw the pendulum swing once again back to the Protestant religion.
A year later, in 1559, the Act of Supremacy and the Act of Uniformity were introduced,
reinstating into law many edicts which had been repealed by Mary I. The Acts declared
the celebration of Mass and other Catholic traditions illegal, while also enshrining
Elizabeth’s supremacy over the Church of England. These new laws introduced fines for
those who refused to attend Church of England services; abstainers were known as
recusants. These measures were designed to make life very difficult for Catholics in
England, and for the most part they succeeded in their aim. Catholic disillusionment set
in, and the situation would soon worsen. In 1570, in reaction to Elizabeth’s draconian
measures against the Catholics in her realm, Pope Pius V issued the Papal Bull, Regnans
in Excelsis. This missive ex-communicated Elizabeth from the Catholic Church, and as
such absolved all Catholics of their allegiance to their Queen. In effect, the Papal Bull
declared that Catholics had a duty to God before their monarch. This proclamation did
little to improve conditions for the beleaguered Catholics of the Elizabethan era. All
Catholics were now viewed as potential traitors to the Crown, effectively sanctioned by
Rome.
The inexperienced Queen, fearful of uprisings against her authority, introduced more
legislation. In a bid to prevent Catholics receiving religious instruction, priests were
denounced as traitors and banned from English shores. Anybody found guilty of
sheltering priests, or providing assistance to them in any way, would also be subject to
the full force of the recusancy laws. Where once Catholicism was simply illegal, it was
now regarded as high treason. Elizabeth did not hesitate to use this new legislation to her
advantage; it soon became clear that she was as adept as her sister Mary at executing
religious opponents and heretics.
These measures, however, failed in their ultimate aim of eradicating the Catholic threat;
in fact, they succeeded only in forcing Catholics underground. While some priests did
flee the country, many decided, in defiance of new laws, to remain in England. The fight
to save the Catholic faith was aided by the arrival of hundreds of foreign-trained priests.
The majority came from the English seminary in Douai, northern France – a college
founded by the Jesuits in 1568 to instruct Englishmen in theology and provide training
for priests. In all, over 450 priests arrived in England from foreign shores, of whom 130
were executed for their efforts to administer the Catholic faith. One such priest was
Father Edmund Campion.
A Protestant by birth, Campion had won a scholarship to Oxford at the age of fifteen. His
immense intellectual abilities earned him a fellowship of St John’s College, Oxfordand a
deaconship in the Anglican Church. However, he secretly harboured sympathies with the
Catholic faith and, in 1571, stole away to Douai to study with the Jesuits. After his
conversion to Catholicism and his ordination as a priest in 1580, Campion returned to
England on a mission to support his fellow clergymen. After a year spent travelling
around the English countryside, he was finally arrested by Elizabeth’s men. He was
brought to the Tower of London and tortured. Refusing to denounce his faith, he was
sentenced to death in 1581. If Elizabeth hoped his execution would damage the morale of
the Catholic crusaders, she was to be sorely disappointed. Instead, his death elevated him
to a Catholic martyr and the circumstances of his death inspired Catholics to re-double
their efforts in the face of Protestant persecution.
The survival of priests during this difficult time would not have been possible without the
protection of the recusant population. Proving themselves to be just as undeterred by the
threat of the recusant laws as the priests, many of the subjugated Catholic population
were willing to help defy Elizabeth. Catholic women, in particular, became central to the
Catholic resistance movement. Regardless of the danger to themselves, they provided
priests with vital support in the form of food and shelter, often concealing them in their
own homes. Hiding places or ‘priest holes’ became a feature of recusant households,
saving many members of the Catholic clergy from the gallows. Despite the constant
danger, many continued to practise their Catholic faith in secret.
As the gulf between Catholics and Protestants widened, a pervasive and insidious
atmosphere of fear and suspicion descended upon the population, which was to provide a
fertile breeding ground for the radicalization of the disaffected Catholic minority.
Read more: The Gunpowder Plot In An Hour.